Top Science of 2013

Our strong interdisciplinary teaming and unique research facilities allow us to develop solutions to complex problems, and to support partners and collaborators, all with the goal of strengthening national security and making a safer world.

Tree death worldwide linked to warming climate

Trees dying at alarming rates is no small concern: trees absorb one-third of human carbon dioxide emissions, and they release this greenhouse gas at death. Our scientists study why and where trees are dying and how their death is caused by a changing climate—and vice versa.

Using the first globally comprehensive data set and our global monitoring system, we predict losses of many forests worldwide by 2100 and discovered wildfires caused by climate change add to the global-warming problem in a dangerous cycle.

Read more about trees, drought research and climate change at Los Alamos: